Norderstedt Pilot Update: Building Climate Action Through Departmental Partnerships

In the Climate-4-CAST project’s second piloting phase, the City of Norderstedt is testing how an effective departmental collaboration can support necessary decisions for climate actions. With a focus on emissions reduction and cost saving potential, Norderstedt is using the Climate Action Decision Support (CADS) Tool to connect climate planning with everyday municipal operations.

Building a Comprehensive Climate Foundation

Norderstedt has completed an update of its emissions baseline, providing a clear foundation for climate action. The analysis confirms that stationary energy and transportation represent the largest emission sources and greatest reduction opportunities. The city has incorporated 14 climate measures into the CADS Tool, with plans to add more. The majority of currently included measures are in the stationary energy sector, but land use measures have also been added.

Fostering Departmental Collaborations

Norderstedt’s pilot approach actively cultivates partnerships across municipal departments. The Norderstedt team established a key collaboration with the Department of Energy and Building Management, which is working on a refurbishment roadmap for the municipal buildings. Four public buildings with energy refurbishment measures are selected to be modelled with the CADS Tool. This requires data from the energy management and from the building management software. The aim is to implement emissions reduction potential in municipal buildings as a relevant indicator for prioritize within the roadmap process. With the results of the CADS Tool the department of energy and building management will be able to prioritize implementations based on climate impact and cost-effectiveness.

Another meaningful partnership involves the Department of Nature and Landscape, which is considering the ecological restoration of a local wetland area. Norderstedt’s pilot team will support this initiative by analyzing greenhouse gas storage potential of the measures, providing crucial data to support financing efforts for the project. Additionally, the pilot team is building up a collaboration with its municipal energy provider to support their selection of decarbonization measures.

Sharing Knowledge and Building Capacity

Looking ahead, Norderstedt is deepening its collaborative relationships while expanding knowledge sharing beyond the project. The city will present Climate-4-CAST at both the German National Conference for Energy Management and the German National Climate Management Conference, demonstrating how the project’s approaches can be applied in the German municipal context.

Norderstedt’s experience demonstrates how climate planning tools become most effective when integrated into existing departmental workflows. As the pilot continues, these local stakeholders will have the chance to test the CADS Tool for their user cases. By thus connecting climate analysis directly to ongoing municipal projects – from building refurbishments to wetland restoration – the city is showing how climate considerations can become a natural part of everyday municipal operations rather than a separate planning exercise.

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